LinkedIn Enjoined From Blocking Scraper–hiQ v. LinkedIn
hiQ Labs has scraped LinkedIn public profiles for several years. hiQ offers two products, entirely predicated on LinkedIn-scraped data: (1) a prediction to employers which employees were mostly likely to be recruited away, and (2) a summary of employee skills….
How Section 230 Helps Sex Trafficking Victims (and SESTA Would Hurt Them) (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Alex F. Levy [Eric’s introduction: Alex Levy teaches Human Trafficking and Human Markets at Notre Dame Law School. She has written a timely and provocative article, The Virtues of Unvirtuous Spaces, about Backpage and online sexual commerce….
LinkedIn Connection Request Doesn’t Violate Non-Solicitation Clause—Bankers Life v. American Senior Benefits
This is another case considering when LinkedIn activity violates a non-solicitation clause. Bankers Life, a company that sells insurance and financial products, sued one of its ex-employees (and his new employer, ASB) alleging among other things that the ex-employee violated…
Facebook Defeats Another Case Over Not Removing User Comments–La’Tiejira v. Facebook
In terms of legal doctrine, this case is virtually identical to the Cross v. Facebook case I recently blogged. In both cases, the plaintiff sued Facebook for not removing user posts. In both cases, Facebook won an anti-SLAPP motion (CA…
Trademark Injunction Issued Against Print-on-Demand Website–Harley Davidson v. SunFrog
The print-on-demand business is a legally risky one. As I recently blogged, in June a court ruled that Zazzle did not qualify for the DMCA 512 safe harbor. This ruling is even more troubling. Are the days of print-on-demand services…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Failure to Remove User Pages–Cross v. Facebook
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that Congress is on the cusp of gutting it.] The principal plaintiff, performer Mikel Knight, was the subject of critical Facebook posts related to two fatal accidents by his tour…
Sen. Portman Says SESTA Doesn’t Affect the Good Samaritan Defense. He’s Wrong
When introducing the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 (S. 1693, the Senate’s anti-Section 230 bill), Sen. Portman said (emphasis added): There are some groups who have been critical of this effort to hold backpage accountable and stop this…
Section 230 Helps Yahoo Defeat Lawsuit Over Online Harassment Campaign–Hall v. Yahoo
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that Congress is on the cusp of gutting it.] Thomas Hall is a lawyer and author. He claims he was targeted for email harassment by several individuals. He further claims…
1H 2017 Quick Links, Part 9 (Justice System, Social Media, Miscellaneous)
Justice System * Paleteria La Michoacana, Inc. v. Productos Lacteos Tocumbo S.A., No. 11-1623 (D.D.C. Mar. 30, 2017): “The Court notes that a growing number of legal scholars are turning to blogs and other online media to publish their work…
1H 2017 Quick Links, Part 8 (Trump, Immigration)
[Note: I very rarely blog about general politics, and I promise that won’t change. However, times are not normal. We have elected a president who lies for sport. takes more hypocritical positions in a week than most of us will…